Add layers to a map and publish

Background information

Here are a few things to consider before you create a map:

Security: The map's sharing settings supersede the sharing settings of the layers. Suppose a map has relatively open access, but you add a layer to which access is restricted. The map's access setting prevails and determines who will be able to view the published data in the layer.

Stack order: The stack order of the layers on a map reflects the way that layers are ordered on the Map Details page. You can modify the order when editing a map. See Layer order for details on how layers are drawn on a map.

Editing map details

You can edit the following map details.

Title

The map title is displayed to users and must be unique across all maps and layers.

Description

A text description for this map. This is an important field, because the text is shown to the end user in some clients, such as the Google Maps Gallery. Descriptions can use standard HTML hyperlink syntax (<a href="">linkname</a>). Descriptions can use <br> to insert line breaks. Additional HTML tags, such as image source, are not supported in descriptions.

Tags

The text strings that should return this map in response to a search. Separate multiple values with commas.

Draft version sharing

Users and groups who can work with this map in your authoring environment.

Published version sharing

Users and groups who can view the published map. This list can include external viewers in addition to people in your organization.

Maps Gallery

If you have a Google Maps Gallery project, and you have published your map, you can submit it for publication in the Google Maps Gallery.

Layer names

By default, the layer name is shown to users, so it's useful to replace the system-generated layer names with user-friendly names. For example, you could create display names such as "Most populous cities," "Fueling stations," "Water depth of 100m," "Endangered wildlife," "Recommended hotels," and so on. By default, a layer is visible. Click the eye in the Visible? column to hide the layer when the map is first displayed. Use the arrows to reorder layers.

Other information on the page is system-generated.

Publishing the map

A map is automatically processed and becomes ready for publishing if all the layers have been published. It takes a few seconds for Maps Engine to reprocess and refresh the map.

If the map has the status Map not ready to publish, check the Published on and Status values for the layers. If a layer is unpublished, click its name to display its Layer Details page and then process and publish it. When all a map's layers are published, it automatically becomes ready for publishing.

Modifying and republishing

You can modify and republish a map at any time and you must republish a map if you add or remove layers. When you republish a map, the new version replaces the old version, and the old version is not saved.

You need not republish a map under these circumstances:

The contents of a layer changes and the layer is republished.

A layer is unpublished. In this case, the contents of the layer become invisible to users.

To modify and republish a map, you don't need to unpublish the map first; just leave the external version as it is if you like. First edit the map, and then when the internal status is again Map is ready to publish, click Publish. The newly published version replaced the previous version.